February 8, 2010
Buffalo, New York, – Rich Products Corporation announced the sale of its Battistoni Italian Specialty Meats business to Buffalo-based Providential Foods, owned by Eric Naber, a Western New York native and local businessman.
Rich’s purchased the business from the Battistoni family in 2005, which included its manufacturing facility and business offices located on Dingens Street in Buffalo.
“The Rich family has made significant investments in the Battistoni business. At the same time, we’ve adopted many of Rich’s best-in-class business processes and leveraged the scale of its distribution and customer network to transform the Battistoni brand into a nationally distributed product,” said Alvino Battistoni, the business’s current general manger and grandson of company founder Umberto Battistoni. “As a result, the business is well positioned for continued success.”
“As we continue to drive focus and resources toward our core strategic and market priorities, we felt the timing was right to transition the business over to a new party who is fully dedicated to the Italian specialty meat category,” said Dwight Gram, Rich’s spokesperson. “But we were very definitive about our desire to maintain the business’s local production facility and workforce. So it was important for us to find the right partner. Eric Naber and Providential Foods is the perfect fit.”
Naber has 20-plus years of food industry experience, a strong background in the specialty meats industry, and long-term business relationships conducive to building additional volume.
“I want to commend the Rich Family for their commitment to keeping the Battistoni plant and business in Buffalo,” said Naber. “There were many other options, but they did what was best for our community.”
Alvino Battistoni will lead the business’s transition over to Providential, which is expected to take 30 days. After the transition, Battistoni will continue his responsibilities in new business development with Rich’s strategic customers.
“My family is very pleased that the business my grandfather founded will continue to operate in Buffalo and grow under Eric Naber’s leadership,” said Battistoni.
“Providential Foods is committed to leveraging the excellent reputation of the Battistoni business by continuing to produce and sell high quality products with great service to our customers,” said Naber. “We are also committed to the Buffalo area and will continue to build upon Rich’s efforts to grow the business from our home base here in Buffalo.”
Paramax Corporation, a leading middle market Investment Bank, was exclusive advisor to Rich Products Corporation in this transaction.